New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo called his team out after a 32–16 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.
“We’re a soft football team across the board,” Mayo said to begin his postgame press conference, via ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “We talk about what makes a tough football team; it’s being able to run the ball, it’s being able to stop the run. It’s being able to cover kicks and we did none of those today.”
“They controlled the ball for most of the day,” he added. “Their running game averaged over 4 1/2 yards a carry. Our run game, not sure what the average was, but it wasn’t good.”
Looking at the same stats Mayo and his staff presumably viewed, the Jaguars rushed for 171 yards on 39 carries (averaging 4.4 per run). Tank Bigsby tallied 118 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries. In turn, the Patriots ran for 38 yards. Rhamondre Stevenson and Drake Maye each had 18 rushing yards.
Jacksonville possessed the ball for 33:15 to New England’s 26:45. A significant factor in that was likely the Jaguars converting 6-of-10 third downs, keeping the Patriots’ defense on the field.
On the bright side, New England didn’t turn the ball over. And Maye threw for 276 yards and two touchdowns, completing 26-of-37 passes. But the Patriots had to pass more after falling behind by 15 points early in the third quarter.
Both teams came into Sunday’s London matchup with 1–5 records, so this didn’t project as a game the Patriots should have won. But it was one of their best opportunities. However, New England has now lost six consecutive games.
Perhaps the Patriots can get another win with the New York Jets, Tennessee Titans and Chicago Bears up next on their schedule. But none of those games are a given with the way this team is playing, which is likely a reason why Mayo decided to be so critical with 10 games remaining in the season.
